1 Corinthians 14:10-12 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for things of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
Paul uses another illustration to show the necessity of clear communication in the church. He uses a different word here for “language” (phone), which can mean sound, voice, or by extension and context, language. This verse indicates that the many sounds in the world have meaning. Language is only the sounds the mouth makes. If these sounds are in patterns that people recognized, then they are meaningless. Anyone who has interacted with a person of another language or who has lived in another country knows this. Paul was widely traveled and encountered many different languages. It is impossible to understand the sounds of a foreigner. There is no recognition. The sounds are just gibberish without recognition or translation.
In v. 12 Paul applies this illustration to the situation in Corinth “so with yourselves.” Their speaking in tongues was meaningless gibberish to others in the church and had did not build up the church. Rather, it was causing division and confusion, which Paul rejects at different points in this letter. He wants them to seek the “things of the Spirit.” A possible implication with the word “of spiritual things” (pneumaton) is that the speaking in tongues that the Corinthians are doing is outside of the scope of this word because it does not build up the church. Any true gift of the Spirit will build up the church and be based on love. Speaking in tongues is based on selfishness. The only exception, as the following verses will show, is if the sounds are interpreted. Otherwise, this should not be done in the church. This is a significant qualification and subtle critique of what the Corinthians were doing.
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